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Mysterons
The Mysterons are the main antagonists of the 1967-8 animation series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and its 2005-6 revival, Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet. They are an extraterrestrial species from Mars that can recreate anything they so please under their evil influence. In order to do this, however, they must first destroy/kill said object or person in the first place. For Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, the Mysterons were voiced by the late Donald Gray, who also voiced Colonel White (Spectrum's CEO) and Captain Black in the show. In Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, they're voiced by Mike Hayley, who also voices Colonel White in the new series; Captain Black, however, is voiced by Nigel Plaskitt. Appearance The original series was careful to never show what the Mysterons actually looked like. As such their most signature appearance was the iconic double green rings, used to revive the dead and turn them into field agents. Following the said replication, individual Mysterons took on the name, identity and traits of said person or object. It is not known what happened to these Mysterons when the replica bodies were destroyed. In the reboot series, Captain Black and the Mysterons themselves confirmed that the species did not possess a physical form any longer. Whether this meant they were spirits or transcended into energy beings is not stated, although the latter seems more likely. ''Origin of the conflict'' In 2068, a mission to Mars was commanded by Spectrum officer Conrad Turner (alias Captain Black) with the intention of discovering the point origin of some foreign radio signals. After hours of searching, Captain Black and his two associates came upon the source of the strange signal; an alien city. Deep within the alien complex (unheard by the Spectrum personnel), the inhabitants of the city acknowledged the arrival of the humans (an act they'd anticipated) and stated their intention to befriend/welcome the Earth explorers. Before making contact, however, the inhabitants decided to take a closer look at the observation vehicle. Unfortunately, Captain Black mistook the harmless scanners weaponry and told Lieutenant Dean to fire upon the complex, which coupled with an avalanche from the surrounding hills destroyed the entire city. With the threat apparently eliminated, the humans prepared to venture onto the surface and retrieve samples. Before anyone could move, however, a strange device rose from the mountain-side and fired a blue light upon the wreckage. As the three men watched on in shock and awe, the city was gradually reconstructed in front of them. Upon completing the first building (which was possibly the heart of the complex), a deep booming voice called out, speaking directly to Captain Black and his colleagues, aware that they could hear it. The alien voice introduced itself and its species as the Mysterons, claiming that they were a peaceful race, who had now been provoked into retaliating against the Earth for their 'act of aggression'. The voice insisted it would be useless for the humans to resist as they had discovered the secret of reversing matter. Whilst they were talking the Mysterons hypnotised Captain Black, the very man who ordered the attack on their complex, turning him into their puppet. The hypnosis visibly altered Captain Black's appearance, making him look very pale, and giving him a perpetual 5 o'clock shadow. With their complex re-constructed and their primary field agent created, the Mysterons declared that their first target in the war of nerves would be to assassinate the World President. First Mission To aid in the assassination of the President, the Mysterons killed two Spectrum operatives on their first big mission together. The dead officers were Captain Scarlet and Captain Brown, who were subsequently reconstructed to be used in two different ways. Captain Brown was the first to attempt to whack the President. Apparently programmed with a self-destruct he exploded inside the President's hotel suite after being assigned as his guard. This attempt failed, thanks to an ingenious instant escape route; the President and his chair were sucked through a false panel in his office room wall. After the World President was returned to Cloudbase, Colonel White assigned Captain Scarlet to take the President to a new Maximum Security Building in London (Captain Brown's suicide bombing had obliterated the Maximum Security Building in New York). With the Angel Interceptor jet fighters surrounding the Spectrum Passenger Jet, the President and the Mysteron agent Captain Scarlet flew to London. However, some Spectrum ground agents found the wreckage of the Spectrum Saloon Car which the original Captains Scarlet and Brown were driving in (the Mysterons had crashed it over the side of a cliff in order to Mysteronise the two men), along with the bodies of the two men. Realising the Captains were imposters, Colonel White immediately orders Scarlet to return to Cloudbase, and when that fails, he orders the Angel squadron to pretend to shoot the jet down. The imposter Captain and the President ejected over South England. The imposter stole a car and held the President as his hostage, on their way to London. Colonel White then sent Captain Blue to follow Captain Scarlet. Using a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (the fastest vehicle in the Spectrum armada) and the Angels shooting down a bridge to stop the imposter captain driving to London, Blue corners Scarlet and the President at the 800 ft Car Vu car park. Unbeknownst to anybody at Car Vu, Captain Black has used his Mysteron powers to take over a Spectrum Helicopter, which gets shot down by Destiny Angel. The helicopter crashes into Car Vu's base. Captain Blue shoots Captain Scarlet, and he falls 800 feet to his death in the streets below, whilst Captain Blue rescues the President using the SPV's jetpack, as Car Vu collapses. Role in the series The Mysterons themselves did not physically appear once throughout the series run and their physical shape (if they even had any) was never revealed. It was pretty clear that their retaliation was a war of nerves, rather than a campaign of annihilation, as before each mission they would provide Spectrum's agents (specifically those on Cloudbase) with a warning about their next act of retaliation. For each and every mission the Mysterons would use either Captain Black or their extraordinary powers, to eliminate people/objects that would be in close proximity to their targets then use their powers to a Mysteron duplicate of the said person/object via two large green circles. If Spectrum ultimately managed to protect the target and eliminate their agents the Mysterons would subsequently leave the said person/area alone and move onto another victim. Throughout the series run, Captain Black acted as the primary agent and messenger of the Mysterons, creating agents for his masters and relaying their orders when necessary. As their primary field agent, Captain Black was invaluable to the Mysterons who they subsequently equipped him with additional powers compared to their other agents. For instance, Captain Black had the ability to detect nearby Spectrum agents and avoid them if necessary. If it ever looked like Captain Black was in danger of being seen or captured, however, the Mysterons would teleport him to safety. Throughout the series, Spectrum did its best to uncover the Mysterons abilities, and although they were aware that the Mysterons were capable of reconstructing humans and inanimate objects, they were frequently forced to conclude that the Mysterons had powers they could not hope to understand. They did, however, discover a few weaknesses that proved invaluable in their campaign against the Mysterons: *In Operation Time, Spectrum discovered that Mysteron agents were impervious to X-Rays, and a confrontation with the same agent (Dr Theodore Magnus) later revealed that electricity was the Mysterons Achilles Heel. Note, Mysteron agents could still be killed with bullets as was demonstrated on numerous occasions, but it appears that electricity proved instantly fatal to them. This was shown in Operation Time, where the replicant apparently exploded, and later Spectrum Strikes Back where the Mysteron Agent, Captain Indigo, was shot with a bullet gun. Although badly injured, Indigo was still able to function but died instantly when Captain Scarlet shot him with the electric gun. *Crater 101, revealed that the Mysterons power of reconstruction was somehow linked to a mysterious crystal, which Spectrum agents Scarlet, Blue and Green found at the heart of the Mysterons Luna Complex. Once it was removed, the city did not reconstruct. The crystal appears to possess other properties but the Mysterons destroyed that crystal before Spectrum could uncover too much. *In Treble Cross the Mysterons killed a test pilot as part of their latest scheme. However, the pilot was discovered and subsequently revived by a pair of doctors, whilst the Mysteron imposter was quickly eliminated. Seizing the opportunity, Spectrum decided to retaliate and learnt two things from the subsequent events. First, the Mysterons could not tell the difference between their own field agents and the original, hence why they destroyed them. Secondly, Captain Black appeared to have a sixth sense, which allowed him to detect imminent danger to his person. *In Traitor, it was revealed that the Mysterons were capable of altering the structure of machinery at a microscopic level, which may explain why planes and helicopters reconstructed by the Mysterons did not need a driver. Notable victories Despite their psychic powers and technological superiority, the Mysterons schemes were often thwarted by Spectrums agents, most notably Captain Scarlet. There were, however, a number of occasions in which the vengeful aliens triumphed over their enemies: - *In episodes such as Treble Cross, The Heart of New York, Model Spy and Manhunt the Mysterons prevented Captain Black from being captured humanity, which would have been disastrous to their cause. *Winged Assassin: In their second retaliatory strike against the Earth, the Mysterons target and eventually succeed in killing the Director-General of the United Asian Republic. *Shadow of Fear: The Mysterons learn that Spectrum is trying to take photographs of Mars' surface, in order to better understand the Mysterons. To prevent this, they recreate one of the observatories scientists, who plants a bomb in the structure. This explodes before Captain Scarlet or Blue can warn the remaining staff members and prevents vital information being passed on to Spectrum. *The Heart of New York: The target this time, is the second main national bank, in the heart of New York City. In a unique case, Colonel White considers this target expendable and allows the Mysterons to succeed. The reason for this attack was three crooks had stolen documentation concerning the Mysterons, and decide to pose as Mysterons in order to rob the main national bank in New York whilst it was evacuated. Angered at being used like this, the Mysterons sent in Captain Black, who planted a bomb inside the building, before trapping the crooks inside the vault. Spectrum discovered the ruse too late. *Flight to Atlantica: They Mysterons send a spiked drink to Cloudbase, rending everyone except for Colonel White and Captain Scarlet useless, careless or easily manipulable. Having been previously assigned to destroy a wreck heading towards Atlantic Naval Base, Captain's Blue and Ochre are instead tricked by Captain Black into targetting the base itself. Although Colonel White and Captain Scarlet managed to stop them just in time, the bases defence systems were left temporarily crippled. *Noose of Ice: The Mysterons attack a mine in the Arctic, which contains a rare mineral vital to the development of the Earth's Space Fleet. Whilst they are stopped before the mine can be completely destroyed, the facility was still crippled and inaccessible for some time, setting back further development by months. *Inferno: Often considered the Mysterons most decisive victory, the Mysterons target the Najama Complex, an irrigation facility that converts sea-water into fresh-water. Whilst the Mysterons destroy a space recovery vehicle, Captain Black plants a homing beacon in a nearby Aztec Temple. This vears the vehicle off course, crashing it into the surrounding mountainside. The resulting landslide instantly destroys the complex, reducing vast areas of South America to a barren desert. * Attack on Cloudbase: Although it was later revealed to be a dream, the Mysterons themselves attacked Cloudbase with space ships, indicating just how outmatched the humans would be if the Mysterons actually invaded. Attempt at Peace In Dangerous Rendezvous, Spectrum acting on behalf of the world government tried to come to terms with the Mysterons, who had threatened to destroy Cloudbase itself. Utilising information gathered from the Mysterons now destroyed Lunar Complex, Colonel White was able to speak to the Mysterons directly on behalf of the citizens of Earth. Here he explained that the attack on Mars was not intentional, and apologised for it saying that humanity would like to wipe the slate clean, and potentially befriend the Mysterons. After careful consideration, The Mysterons agreed to speak to a representative from Spectrum who they ordered to fly to Greenland. Scarlet volunteered, but shortly after arriving at the designated meeting area it was revealed to be a trap. Just before the building exploded, however, Scarlet was presented with a recorded message from the Mysterons, who made it very clear they did not believe that humanity was being sincere. As such the war of nerves would continue, although Colonel White noted that they would continue to seek a peaceful resolution. ''New Captain Scarlet'' The Mysterons role in the reboot series was predominantly the same as in the original series. They served as the series main antagonists, resurrecting Captain Black as their main agent (once Scarlet failed) with the intention of wiping out humanity following an attack on their city. There were, however, a few small differences between the two series: *The Mysterons had the ability to make their city invisible. This explained why humanity, who had established some corporate colonies on several planets, including Mars, did not learn about the Mysterons existence until the start of the series. *Electricity was no longer the Mysterons main weakness, and they could be killed in the same manner as humans. *Instead of being forced to conceal their victim's bodies, the Mysterons vaporised them and reconstructed them at an atomic level, making it far less clear who their agents actually were. *Because of said reconstruction method, however, there was a noticeable subatomic difference between Mysteron agents and ordinary humans. This could be detected via a blood test. *In Achilles Messenger, it was revealed that a small number of Mysterons believed that the attack on Mars was a mistake on humanity's part. That same messenger also revealed that this voice was small, compared to the rage of the Mysteron race. In the final episode of the series, Dominion, Captain Scarlet and Captain Black (who appeared to be free of Mysteron control) returned to Mars to end the war once and for all. Despite being armed, the pair tried to negotiate with the Mysteron's and entered the heart of the city. Unfortunately, this turned out to be nothing more than the Mysteron's latest scheme. They had only temporarily set Black free, in order to trick Scarlet into entering their complex with the intention of destroying him. Scarlet promptly engaged the now repossessed Black in a fight, ending with him planting a bomb on the Mysterons chest and throwing him into one of the cities mysterious structures. The Mysterons attempted to use their own powers to destroy Scarlet but were stopped when the bomb exploded, destroying their city a second time. Having just barely escaped himself, Scarlet left Mars triumphant. Captain Black and the Mysterons were revealed to have survived this second blast, however, the former watching the Spectrum agents departure. Following this second destruction of the complex, the Mysterons seem to have decided that continuing the war with humanity was no longer beneficial to their species. The episode and the series concluded with the Mysterons recalling their primary agent into the city. The Mysterons presumably went back into hiding afterwards, biding their time and waiting for a point when humanity could either be trusted or they could recontinue the war against the Earth. Category:Aliens Category:Artificial Intelligence Category:Vengeful Category:Murderer Category:Titular Category:TV Show Villains Category:Energy Beings Category:Hegemony Category:Inconclusive Category:Minion